Michael Beach is a hopeless romantic wanting a chance with his long-time crush inI’ll Be Right There. Beach has enjoyed a steady and diverse career going back to one of his first breakout roles in the Morgan Freeman-ledLean on Me, having since starred in everything from the Mark Wahlberg-ledPatriots Dayto the Oscar-nominatedIf Beale Street Could Talk, Jason Momoa’sAquamanand ABC’sThe Rookie. More recently, Beach has held a recurring role inthe first three seasons ofMayor of Kingstown, playing prison inmate-captain-turned-warden Kareem Moore, Netflix’sDead Boy DetectivesandTulsa King.
Beach stars inI’ll Be Right Thereas Albert, a former high school friend of Edie Falco’s Wanda who has moved back to town after leaving, getting married, having a kid, and subsequently getting a divorce. Albert reconnects with Wanda after realizing her son lives below him in his apartment building, with the two catching up with one another as he learns of her busy life with her adult children and dating both a man and a woman. Through it all, Albert stays supportive of Wanda, clearly holding a deeper affection for her.
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Alongside Beach and Falco, the ensembleI’ll Be Right Therecast includes Oscar nominee Jeannie Berlin,Mrs. America’s Kayli Carter,Ozarkalum Charlie Tahan,Justified’s Michael Rapaport,The L Word: Generation Q’s Sepideh Moafi andGet Out’s Bradley Whitford. Blending hilarious family dysfunction with moving character development, the dramedy is a breezy and well-performed slice-of-life story.
Ahead of the movie’s release,Screen Rantinterviewed Michael Beach to discussI’ll Be Right There, the cozy atmosphere he and his co-stars enjoyed on set, finding both his character and dynamic with Falco’s Wanda on the fly, as well as his thoughts on Kareem’s emotionalMayor of Kingstownseason 3 death and why he thinks it was for the better of his character’s family.
Beach Always Tries To Do Indie Movies When He Can
Screen Rant:I’ll Be Right Thereis such a charming and just very funny slice-of-life movie. What was it about this script that really sparked your interest to want to be a part of it?
Michael Beach: Well, before the script, I knew who the cast was, so that was, obviously, very attractive for me. And then, like you say, we spend so much time trying to do these big projects, and, “Oh, you’re working for this company now, and that company.” Every once in a while, you get a nice, small script that really speaks about humanity and what everyday people have to go through. Those always attract me, and I’ve tried, over the decades that I’ve been working, to ensure that, every once in a while, I do an indie film.
Because I’m attracted to the underdog aspect of it all, especially in today’s world. Somebody has no money, they’re fighting to get good actors to help tell this story, stuff like that. And sometimes, it doesn’t have to blow me away, or even the character doesn’t have to blow me away, but if I do like the story, or something else about it blows me away, and I want to be a part of it, so I do that as often as I can.
I’ll Be Right There’s Relaxed Set Atmosphere Made It Easy For Beach To Connect To His Character
I find that when I often talk about indie films with people, they have to really jump into their characters right away because of the fast-nature production of the movies. I’m curious what you found was one of the big keys for you in getting to the core of your character in this one with that quick schedule?
Michael Beach: No, I don’t feel that way at all. I don’t have to jump into anything. I think when the script is good and when it speaks to you, and especially the nature of shooting this film, it was really relaxed. It was comfortable. It was about, particularly my character Albert. You have Edie, and you have Michael. It’s really about these two people trying to get to know each other, right? I think for me, anyway, Albert having this kind of long-term crush on Edie’s character, I think it really just kind of lends itself to me on camera, trying to get to know Edie on camera.
I think that plays into the writing of the piece, and again, we have no time. It’s fast, it’s quick, it’s not like we didn’t have a bunch of rehearsal. We just kind of talked about stuff, and then we just started shooting. So, it kind of just lent itself to say, “Oh, I just have to be available, I have a good beat on the lines, and now I’m just going to throw the ball back to Edie once she throws it to me.” It kind of just worked out
Wanda’s Coming Out To Albert Left Him “A Little Flabbergasted”
He is quite the underdog when it comes to Edie’s character, in that, like you say, he’s got a long-term crush, but he’s walking into a situation that is maybe more than he expected. I love how subtle that scene is where she reveals she’s dating two different people, a man and a woman, and Albert’s just kind of like, “Okay…” What do you think is actually going through his head when he is when she tells him that?
Michael Beach: Well, it’s a shock, because they live in a small place. And again, just like the big films, right, that’s kind of the thing that you expect in big, big towns, like New York City and Los Angeles. I think he has one line, I think there’s a joke, because he had moved away, and he said, “Wow, if I had known that dating was like this here, I’d have returned a lot sooner.” [Laughs] She’s seeing another woman, and I think he’s a little flabbergasted. He’s kind of a small town guy, he’s never lived in the fast lane — not that, in today’s world, that’s really the fast lane. [Chuckles]
But I think, for the purposes of who he is, it kind of is. I think he’s a very simple guy, and even to him, not that it’s mind-shattering, but a woman who’s dating a woman and is also dating a man is a bit shocking. Especially since, I think, somewhere deep down in him, he was wondering if there was an opportunity for him. And then when you find out this, and you’re like, “Oh, I’m, like, three or four down the line of possibly getting something to happen.” So, I really love that idea, the situation that he found himself in.
I’ll Be Right There’s Ending Offered A Little More Insight On Albert & Wanda’s Future
So, without getting into spoilers, I am curious if you think there is a future for those characters given the final scene that they have in this film together?
Michael Beach: I think so. Script wise, there was actually much more detail, and we kind of cut out certain things to leave it a little bit more ambiguous. I think it was less ambiguous before, but I like this ending because — at least the ending for them — because it’s not like, “Oh, now she’s just going to jump into this.” I think they’re getting to know each other, and I thought that was much more in keeping with the style of the piece, because nothing is cut and dry. “This is the good guy. This is the bad guy. This is the guy that gets the girl, the girl that gets the guy.” It’s that slice of life kind of feeling, but I think, at the same time, it’s pretty clear that, whether or not they become a couple, they are going to be in each other’s lives.
Beach Loved Getting To Improv WIth Falco
A few of the people I’ve talked with so far about the film have mentioned the improv nature of the production. I’m curious if you were allotted that opportunity with Edie and your scenes together, and what it was like going offbook a little bit to explore that dynamic.
Michael Beach: Oh, absolutely, that’s what I mean. We didn’t rehearse a whole lot, and Brendan, the whole idea was, “Whatever!” [Laughs] it was like, “Just go, we have the scene, have the structure, and we’re just going to go.” I don’t know if this is how Edie normally works, but sometimes when you’re doing the scene, and you mess up a line, or you’re not in the right place, or you’re taking a pause that maybe you shouldn’t, somebody yells “Cut.” And you go, “Oh my god, I messed up.”
We never did that on this film, you just keep going, and a lot of times those moments are, if not gems, still that idea that you’re just living life, that you’re just experiencing someone in an awkward moment, you know, how they’re relating to the other person. So, we did a lot of that, that happened a lot. We didn’t know exactly what was going to happen a lot of times, and sometimes you just threw out a line that wasn’t around.
And, of course, you’re working with Edie Falco, so you hit the ball, she catches it and throws it right back at you. So, I really enjoyed that aspect of it, and I think that’s one of the things that, if you watch this film, you’d probably think that it’s happening all the time. And it might be, and I think the spontaneity that makes the film so interesting.
Last time we spoke was forMayor of Kingstownseason 3, and we’ve now arrived at the finale, and I am heartbroken by Kareem’s death. Obviously, he was on the verge of termination, but why do you think it is that he sort of goes out into the yard and lets the ABs have at him the way he does?
Michael Beach: Well, for me, he’s in jeopardy of losing all the benefits that he’s had, that he’s developed all this time, so his family is in dire straits. And the scary part is that if he continues on, that he may jeopardize that. And the other main thing, I think, is his family’s in dire straits because of him. Because he’s so proud and happy that his daughter is getting the therapy that she needs, but he never did, and I don’t think he ever will. And so the question is, “Can they get better if he’s not getting better?”
She’s being helped on one end, but being hindered on the other end by him. So if you take him out of the picture — and there’s arguments like, “Oh no, now they’re missing their father, and this and that and blah, blah, blah.” Of course, it’s all true, but I think that’s where, at least in my working, knowing that that’s where we were going — and because it’s not Kareem story, you don’t get a lot of opportunity to kind of flesh the that story out. So, I think I only have 2–4 scenes per episode to really work on this and that. So, I think the way we ended up doing it, to me, was pretty powerful.
AboutI’ll Be Right There
Wanda has her hands full: her 8-month pregnant daughter wants a wedding which her ex-husband is flaking on paying for, her mother thinks she’s dying, her wayward son is either going into rehab or the army, her long-time boyfriend doesn’t excite her, but her new girlfriend doesn’t either, and she barely has time for herself, not that she would know what to do with it anyway.
I’ll Be Right There
Cast
Wanda tries to keep her own life together while simultaneously taking care of everyone else around her.
